On consecutive editions this week we had interviews with Bill Clinton and Colin Powell. These seemed to go down very well with most viewers:

"What a superb interview," said J Eccles. "Jeremy Paxman and Colin Powell, and indeed Clinton. No one other than BBC2 Newsnight could achieve this. Great questions, the ones we all want answering."

But one thought we missed a trick with Colin Powell, and didn't so much blame us but the way television interviews are traditionally conducted.

The question of how much we should involve viewers in asking the questions rather than asking them ourselves is a hot one

"In programmes like Newsnight we have a supposedly neutral interviewer who is also expected to be a master of all subjects", wrote Jack Thomas.

"I think we should have openly partisan interviewers who are also expert in their field, maybe even brought in as guests, who can conduct an interview directly with the subject... how about giving it a try?"

It's a good thought and one we've tried from time to time where a panel of experts or practitioners cross question the person in the frame - usually a Government minister. The big drawback is that the list of politicians willing to subject themselves to this format is about as long as the number of former world leaders we've had on the show this week.

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The question of how much we should involve viewers and others in asking the questions rather than asking them ourselves is a hot one.